Thanksgiving is Our Dialect


When I drove home from Richmond it was late at night with my emotions high. As I cried out to God, He in His awesomeness put a cross in the clouds just over the moon. It was a reminder He was with me in the drive as well as moving forward into what is next. In that moment as I was driving trying to look at the cross and the road I was reminded of the words of Deuteronomy 31:8 which states, ”The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

Since being home I was not ready to give up going to a Pentecostal church, so I took my mother to an Assembly of God (AG) church and a Church of God service. Going with her I got to experience a little of what I imagine the people of Lighthouse saw happen in me. There is the general sense of astonishment by the passionate controlled chaos going on in the service. You want to accept what is going on while still standing back with a state of shock. I remember my first week being told … “well at least you did not call for an ambulance when someone was slain in the Spirit!”

The two experiences at the AG and Church of God were very different from each other and from Lighthouse.  At the AG church the pastor’s wife came up to me during the passing of the peace time to gently put her hand on my cheek to say ‘I am so glad you came here to visit our family. I hope you enjoy fellowship with us today.” When she did this it was very endearing to me.

After service I was able to talk with the pastor and his wife. They talked about the whirlwind of six months I have experienced since meeting the Holdemans in Egypt. I shared with this couple my uncertainty about my future and immediately they began to pray with me. My heart was so comforted by their action to prayer.

At the Church of God, the pastor (after a great sermon on 1 Samuel 30:1-6) did an altar call. I knew what was coming having experienced many altar calls at Lighthouse. My mom on the other hand had no idea. The pastor asked for people to respond by raising their hand if the sermon resonated with them. After the hands were raised the pastor said for those that raised their hands to come forward to the altar for someone to pray with them. My mom had risen her hands, but I quickly glanced over at her to see there was no way she was going to move to the altar.

Then God is His all-seeing, and providence had two women behind us tap my mom on the shoulder to ask if they could pray with her. It was amazing to watch what I have come to know as normal being experienced for the first time by my mom. She got to have just a taste of what I had come to enjoy being iat a Pentecostal church.

Walking into a Pentecostal church is not strange or weird anymore to me. My shock has worn off.  The once seen as passionate controlled chaos is now a comfort. I am grateful for the change in my perspective.  

Over the past year, especially the past six months, I have much to be thankful for in my life.  God in His grace upon grace allowed me to graduate with my doctorate, meet a couple in Egypt to open my mind up to a whole new way of thinking about the Holy Spirit, a church to teach me some basics of operating in the Spirit their way, and a home to come back to where people have loved on me generously. 

With Thanksgiving drawing near, I love to reference Ephesians 5:4b in the Message. This verse reminds, “those who follow Jesus have better uses for language than that. Don’t talk dirty or silly. That kind of talk doesn’t fit our style. Thanksgiving is our dialect.”

As followers of Jesus Thanksgiving should be a normal to us. The use of our language should to be one filled with thanks. I have found myself recently operating a lot more on praise and thanksgiving than on questioning and doubt. When things have not gone as smoothly as I might have wanted putting on a tongue of thanksgiving to the Father has given me a better vantage point to what is going on. God created His people to speak with thanks to remind us He is in control. To remind us He goes before, is there in the middle, and will be there behind us as well. 

What is next in my life? I still am not sure. There are some ideas circling out there. I will keep you updated on here where/what I might be doing. One thing I know is just like the cross in the clouds on my drive home, God will continue to comfort and direct my paths as I lean into Him with a dialect of thanksgiving.



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